“Alteration of watercourse” means any action that will change the location of the channel occupied by water within the banks of any portion of a riverine waterbody.

“Appeal” means a request for a review of the interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.

“Area of shallow flooding” means a designated AO, AH, AR/AO or AR/AH zone on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) with a one percent or greater annual chance of flooding to an average depth of one to three feet; a clearly defined channel does not exist; the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate; and velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by sheet flow or ponding. Also referred to as the “sheet flow area.”

“Area of special flood hazard” means the land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. Designation on flood insurance rate maps (FIRMs) includes the letters A, AO, AH, A1-30, AE, A99 and AR. “Special flood hazard area” is synonymous in meaning with the phrase “area of special flood hazard.”

“ASCE 24” means the most recently published version of ASCE 24, Flood Resistant Design and Construction, published by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

“Base flood” means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Also referred to as the “one-hundred-year flood.”

“Base flood elevation (BFE)” means the elevation to which floodwater is anticipated to rise during the base flood.

“Basement” means any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.

“Critical facility” means a facility for which even a slight chance of flooding might be too great. Critical facilities include, but are not limited to, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, police, fire and emergency response installations, installations which produce, use or store hazardous materials or hazardous waste.

“Development” means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials, located within the area of special flood hazard.

“Flood” or “flooding” means:

“Flood elevation study” means an examination, evaluation, and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, or an examination, evaluation, and determination of mudslide (i.e., mudflow) and/or flood-related erosion hazards. Also known as a “flood insurance study (FIS).”

“Flood insurance rate map (FIRM)” means the official map on which the Federal Insurance Administrator has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the community. A FIRM that has been made available digitally is called a digital flood insurance rate map (DFIRM).

Flood Insurance Study. See “Flood elevation study.”

“Floodplain” or “flood-prone area” means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source. See “flood” or “flooding.”

“Floodplain administrator” means the community official designated by title to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.

“Floodproofing” means any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate risk of flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures, and their contents. Floodproofed structures are those that have the structural integrity and design to be impervious to floodwater below the base flood elevation.

“Floodway” means the channel or a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than a designated height. Also referred to as “regulatory floodway.”

“Functionally dependent use” means a use which cannot perform its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water. The term includes only docking facilities, port facilities that are necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers, and ship building and ship repair facilities, and does not include long-term storage or related manufacturing facilities.

“Highest adjacent grade” means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.

“Historic structure” means any structure that is:

“Lowest floor” means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access or storage, in an area other than a basement area, is not considered a building’s lowest floor; provided, that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter found in CEMC Section 15.24.150(A)(2).

“Manufactured home” means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. For floodplain management purposes “manufactured home” also includes park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than one hundred eighty consecutive days. For insurance purposes, “manufactured home” does not include park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles.

“Manufactured home park or subdivision” means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.

“Mean sea level” means, for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the vertical datum to which base flood elevations shown on a community’s flood insurance rate map are referenced.

“New construction” means, for the purposes of determining insurance rates, structures for which the “start of construction” commenced on or after the effective date of an initial flood insurance rate map or after December 31, 1974, whichever is later, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures. For floodplain management purposes, “new construction” means structures for which the “start of construction” commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by a community and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

“Recreational vehicle” means a vehicle which is built on a single chassis, four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection, designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck and designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use.

“Start of construction” includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, placement, or other improvement was within one hundred eighty days of the permit date. The “actual start” means either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site, such as the pouring of slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading, and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers or foundation or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the “actual start of construction” means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of a building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.

“Structure” means a walled and roofed building including a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally aboveground, as well as a manufactured home.

“Substantial damage” means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

“Substantial improvement” means any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent of the market value of the structure before the “start of construction” of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred “substantial damage,” regardless of the actual work performed. The term does not, however, include either:

“Variance” means a grant of relief by a community from the terms of a floodplain management regulation.

“Water dependent” means a structure for commerce or industry which cannot exist in any other location and is dependent on the water by reason of the intrinsic nature of its operations.